The British Jazz Thread

Selaws

Selaws

Well-Known Member
@avecigrec suggested we have a dedicated British Jazz thread and I would certainly enjoy one too....so here it is.

This idea stemmed from the current Decca 'British Jazz Explosion' reissue series, which started with the Journeys In Modern Jazz: Britain compilation and the reissuing of Don Rendell - Space Walk, Ken Wheeler And The John Dankworth Orchestra – Windmill Tilter (The Story Of Don Quixote), and The New Jazz Orchestra – Le Déjeuner Sur L'Herbe. The next 2 to be reissued look to be John Surman & John Warren - Tales Of The Algonquin and Harry Beckett - Flare Up.

When the comp was released I broke down each track into the respective album it was taken from to create a list of albums that I expect the series will tackle. I then dug into Tony Higgins' posts (Higgins is spearheading the series) and found a photo that pretty much confirmed it. So, my prediction was:

Michael Gibbs - S/T
Stan Tracy - 7 Ages Of Man
The New Jazz Orchestra - Le Déjeuner Sur l'Herbe
Harry Beckett - Flare Up
Neil Ardley, Don Rendell & Ian Carr - Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises
Alan Skidmore - Once Upon A Time
John Surman & John Warren - Tales of the Algonquin
Don Rendell - Space Walk
Ken Wheeler and the John Dankworth Orchestra - Windmill Tilter

Plus:
Collin Bates Trio – Brew
Michael Garrick Sextet – Promises
The Mike Westbrook Concert Band - Marching Song Vol. 1
Dick Morrissey Quartet – Storm Warning
Mike Taylor Quartet – Pendulum

It's a bloody great overview of the 'golden years' of British Jazz in my opinion and a good starting point to dig deeper. I'm fortunate enough to have acquired OG's of all of these apart from the Mike Taylor (but I can dream!) and I would humbly say I'm familiar with each and would happily point people in other directions that are similar to specific albums.

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The other aspect of this thread is the contemporary scene which has been absolutely killing it for the past few years now. Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd, Cassie Kinoshi, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Matthew Halsall, Nat Birchall, Emma-Jean Thackray, Joe Armon-Jones, Binker Golding, Tenderlonious, Yussef Dayes........the list goes on and on.

In fact, a particular great aspect of the current scene is the impact of female musicians. Not only do they exist outside of vocals (which unfortunately and historically was the only place women were given an actual chance) but they are KILLING it, more so than the British male musicians in my opinion. With fantastic compositions from the likes of Cassie Kinoshi, jaw-droppingly powerful playing from the likes of Nubya Garcia, to genre-merging experiments from the likes of Emma Jean-Thackray. They are a force to be reckoned with.

Anyway, let's see if this thread goes anywhere. Hopefully, it does and I will help out where I can!
 
This is awesome, thanks @Selaws!

As an avid reader, I'm also curious if you have any book recommendations for British Jazz History and/or key or favourite artists.

Also if you have any website recommendations for either historical or contemporary British Jazz?
 
avecigrec said:
This is awesome, thanks @Selaws!

As an avid reader, I'm also curious if you have any book recommendations for British Jazz History and/or key or favourite artists.

Also if you have any website recommendations for either historical or contemporary British Jazz?
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As it happens I’m quite the reader as well and I would say around 75% of what I read is jazz-related, so I have a few suggestions with an emphasis on British Jazz.

Music Outside: Contemporary Jazz In Britain by Ian Carr was first published in the early 70's as is written from the viewpoint of an academic that was also at the centre of the very music he was writing about (Carr was part of the Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet and Nucleus). Its around 200 pages long so doesn't cover everything, but the musicians he does focus on are given a fantastic overview. There is a recently updated edition as well that includes some additional bits.

Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers and Free Fusioneers: British Jazz, 1960-1975 by Duncan Heining is a bit more of a lengthy read at 500 pages and can be quite dense at times but is one of the most detailed books on British jazz that I have read. I was initially put off this by the inclusion of Trad (a contemporary take on dixieland which isn't my thing) but it only really takes up the first chapter or two and soon begins to merge into more straight ahead British jazz. The book itself is a bit pricey in print but it might be available on Kindle.

Subversion Through Jazz: The birth of British progressive jazz in a Cold War climate - Matt Parker is another great book BUT it leans heavily on politics and how it affected the development of British jazz. Its pretty heavy so unless you are quite interested in politics from the era it might be best to stick with others.

Im sure there are others but I have found it difficult to find books dedicated to British jazz in isolation. However, there are dozens of biographies and autobiographies that focus on specific musicians whilst providing fantastic information on the wider scene. Some of my favourites include:
The Godfather of British Jazz The Life and Music of Stan Tracey by Clark Tracey - Biography of the pianist (and long-time Ronnie Scott house pianist) Stan Tracey, written by his son Clark.
Out of the Long Dark The Life of Ian Carr by Alyn Shipton - Biography of trumpeter Ian Carr.
The Long Shadow of the Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes by Simon Spillett - Im personally not a fan of Spillett but this certainly is a great biography on the saxophonist Tubby Hayes.
Mosaics: The Life and Works of Graham Collier by Duncan Heining - Im halfway through this biography of the bassist Graham Collier and its fantastic so far!
The Many Faces of Harry Beckett - John Thurlow is the book that started the Jazz In Britain label, John set it up originally to specifically release this book. Well worth it too if you are a fan of the trumpeter, it's fantastic.
Joe Harriott: Fire in His Soul by Alan Robertson. There is a woefully small amount actually written about the saxophonist Joe Harriott despite his huge impact on the British jazz scene. This book goes a long way to providing a detailed overview and more!
Dusk Fire: Jazz in English Hands by Michael Garrick and Trevor Bannister. Another great read which this time focuses on the Pianist Michael Garrick!

There's a lot more in addition to the list above and there's a good chance I might have read them, so if you see something else out there that appeals to you, let me know.

In terms of contemporary British jazz, there seems to be even less written im afraid. I haven't really found much in book form although there are a few good magazines and periodicals that cover the 'rising British jazz scene'. Issue 99 of 'Straight No Chaser' is a good example and even has Cassie Kinoshi as the cover story.

There is also a great book by Emma Warren called Make Some Space : Tuning Into Total Refreshment Centre which might seem a bit specific but actually paints a fantastic picture of the DIY, community aspect of the contemporary British jazz scene. The Total Refreshment Centre (TLC) might be familiar to those who have Makaya McCraven – Where We Come From (Chicago X London Mixtape) as it was recoded live at the venue and its iconic ceiling is used as the cover art.
 
Selaws said:
The other aspect of this thread is the contemporary scene which has been absolutely killing it for the past few years now. Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd, Cassie Kinoshi, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Matthew Halsall, Nat Birchall, Emma-Jean Thackray, Joe Armon-Jones, Binker Golding, Tenderlonious, Yussef Dayes........the list goes on and on.

In fact, a particular great aspect of the current scene is the impact of female musicians. Not only do they exist outside of vocals (which unfortunately and historically was the only place women were given an actual chance) but they are KILLING it, more so than the British male musicians in my opinion. With fantastic compositions from the likes of Cassie Kinoshi, jaw-droppingly powerful playing from the likes of Nubya Garcia, to genre-merging experiments from the likes of Emma Jean-Thackray. They are a force to be reckoned with.

Anyway, let's see if this thread goes anywhere. Hopefully, it does and I will help out where I can!
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Don't forget Rebecca Nash, Chip Wickham, Emily Francis, Jasmine Myra, and so many others that are on fire in the UK right now!
 
e.s. said:
Weird, incidentally, that Decca's British Jazz Explosoin site doesn't have the upcoming new releases listed, despite them showing up elsewhere. I'd had that site bookmarked expecting more releases to show up as they are announced, but so far, nothing.

And fingers crossed that they get to Greek Variations sooner than later...
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Greek Variations and A Symphony Of Amaranths would definitely be great picks for reissue. A track used in the comp as from Greek Variations so looks like it could be coming at some point.

On a related side note, Jazz In Britain have been meeting with Viv Adley (Neil's wife) to collate some photos for an upcoming Neil Ardley biography (Viv supplied some anecdotes as well). I think I recall John Thurlow (of Jazz In Britain) mentioning there will be a CD set of previously unreleased tracks to go along with it as well.
 
Lee Newman said:
The We Out Here comp is a great starting place for the current British Jazz Scene, no?... I think all the major players are there.
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100%. Great recommendation.

The closing track, "Abusey Junction", was impressive enough to allow Kokoroko to have sell-out shows before they even released any other music (I went to a few myself!!).

Blue Note Reimagined Vol 1 & 2 are also decent compilations that highlight contemporary British jazz musicians taking on some classic Blue Note compositions.
 
Amazing! My copy of The Ray Russell Sextet featuring Harry Beckett - Forget To Remember: Live Vol.2 1970 I ordered in February 2021 has shipped! Now let's hope post office won't do anything wrong and I'll finally be able to delete that Jazz in Britain email from my Pending orders file :)

On another note, if you missed it (sure you didn't) Tom Skinner will have his first solo album released on International Anthem in a couple of weeks. Kareem Dayes, Nubya Garcia, Tom Herbert and Shabaka Hutchings are in the line up.

 
This is a fantastic album from Joe Harriott that's been reissued by Cadillac Records.

Looks to be a needle drop but Gearbox tackled it so I imagine thy have done a decent job.

cadillacrecords77.com

Swings High

The Joe Harriott Quintet – Swings High Newly remastered from the original vinyl at Gearbox Studio, with extended liner notes and new information. The Joe Harriott Quintet Swings High, recorde…
cadillacrecords77.com cadillacrecords77.com

 
Selaws said:
This is a fantastic album from Joe Harriott that's been reissued by Cadillac Records.

Looks to be a needle drop but Gearbox tackled it so I imagine thy have done a decent job.

cadillacrecords77.com

Swings High

The Joe Harriott Quintet – Swings High Newly remastered from the original vinyl at Gearbox Studio, with extended liner notes and new information. The Joe Harriott Quintet Swings High, recorde…
cadillacrecords77.com cadillacrecords77.com

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I just listened to this again tonight! I got my copy from dusty groove. Compared to the audiophile-grade jazz reissues that we’ve been spoiled with lately, this is a step or two below. But it’s a nice package and, as @Selaws said, a great album. Familiar but fresh with great tunes.
 
Skalap said:
Amazing! My copy of The Ray Russell Sextet featuring Harry Beckett - Forget To Remember: Live Vol.2 1970 I ordered in February 2021 has shipped! Now let's hope post office won't do anything wrong and I'll finally be able to delete that Jazz in Britain email from my Pending orders file :)

On another note, if you missed it (sure you didn't) Tom Skinner will have his first solo album released on International Anthem in a couple of weeks. Kareem Dayes, Nubya Garcia, Tom Herbert and Shabaka Hutchings are in the line up.

Click to expand...

I've had a backlog of Jazz In Britain albums for well over a year as well. I just got the shipping notification this morning, so on the way are:

- The Ray Russell Sextet featuring Harry Beckett - Forget To Remember: Live Vol.2 1970
- The Joe Harriott Quintet - Formation: Live '61
- Chris Laurence - Ken Wheeler: Some Gnu Ones
 
Well this is exciting.

The legendary British jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther is performing live next month here in London in his group "Still Waters" which also includes the equally legendary Dave Green on bass.

Lowther appeared on lots of brilliant jazz albums over the years with my favorite being his 1970 album "Child Song".



Dave Green played on almost every major British jazz you can think of, from the Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet's albums (Dusk Fire, etc), to Michael Garrick's "Home Stretch Blues", "Troppo", "Cold Mountain", etc!

Here's a clip of the group in action a couple of years ago.

 
Here's a new release from My Only Desire that looks to be fantastic. A 2lp live set from Graham Collier which was recorded at the Stockholm's Jazz Day festival the same year that 'Down Another Road' (arguably his best album) was released.

Massive names here including Harry Beckett, Stan Sulzmann, Karl Jenkins, etc.

Mastered at Gearbox so it should be decent. Their previous live albums have all been fantastic so im expecting good things.

 
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